1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to two-way telephone subscriber systems and particularly to such systems capable of providing a verbally interactive telephone interrogation system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Touch-Tone telephone systems are well known and extend throughout the United States. Such systems have been used for normal telephone conversations and as Datasets but have not, to applicant's knowledge, achieved their full utilization as a communications interface such as achieved by the present invention which utilizes the Touch-Tone type telephone in a verbally interactive telephone interrogation system. Interrogation systems, or multiple choice student response systems are well known, such as exemplified by the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,763,577; 3,774,316; 3,708,891; 3,623,238; 2,777,901; 3,194,895; 3,273,260; 3,484,950; 3,546,791; 3,947,972; 3,665,615; 3,245,157; 3,284,923; 3,538,621; 3,477,144; 4,078,316; and 3,255,536. In addition, broadcast audience polling systems are well known, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,674,512; 3,744,712; 3,776,453; 3,974,335 and 4,023,729. None of these prior art systems known to applicant, however, is a verbally interactive telephone interrogation system nor utilizes a conventional two-way telephone subscriber network to enable individual subscriber selection of telephone messages with which the subscriber may individually interact and/or to which the subscriber may respond and have the response recorded or accumulated in an automatic telephone survey. Recently, two-way communication systems have become popular for purposes of polling or interrogation, such as the cable TV system known as QUBE. However, this prior art system is not an individualized verbally interactive system nor is it a telephone interrogation system; rather, the subscriber merely responds to information which is flashed on the television screen to all subscribers at the same time. It should also be noted that the use of prerecorded telephone messages has been well known for considerable time, such as the weather or such as telephone answering machines. However, none of these prior art systems known to applicant is an individualized verbally interactive telephone interrogation system in which track selection is accomplished through use of the telephone key pad or in which telephone survey information may be recorded at a remote location through the use of the telephone key pad. These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.